Hand held welders have included a hand gun style unit containing a trigger and welding tip. Some of these welders also include a welding wire feed apparatus and a welding wire feed speed control supported by the hand held unit. While these welders can provide increased mobility over traditional arc welders, they nevertheless require an alternating current ("A.C.") power supply unit or are engine driven welders. This requirement decreases the portability and on-site mobility of the welder because the power unit is bulky and heavy. Furthermore, such welding units require electric power (usually 200/230 V, 60 Hz) supplied by an A.C. line connection. Such a connection further decreases the portability and mobility of the welder because of the necessity of having a line connection nearby.
Other welders have included torches connected to a container having a wire spool for feeding welding wire and wire drive means, these welders being connected to a 24 volt battery external of the container and for supplying electrical power to the welder and to the wire spool drive means.